Great little story on taxes....

[rbrownie]

Beer & Taxes

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten
comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like
this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the
cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the
first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.
But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they
divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that
from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end
up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill
by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each
should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to
drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare
their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to
the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too.
It's unfair that he got TEN times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I
got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down
and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they
discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of
them for even half of the bill!

And that is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes
get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them
for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not
understand, no explanation is possible.

[Sprawl]

shenanigans i declare.

SHENANIGANS


we all know that 2 factors are always going to be true.


1. Taxes will always go up

2. Prices will always go up.

and if you're in the canadian system


the first 4 men would be charged a "drinking fee" not on the bill.

the poor men would receive only a 10% increase.

the rich would then get a 15% paycut


The bartender would say, The rich has more money in his pocket so he'll come back to drink and now the poor have no money we can throw that rabble scum out. and only keep the rich!

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by rbrownie

And that is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore.

I love watching the struggling lower middle class (4th/5th man) arguing for better treatment of the richest 1% (10th man) in posts such as this.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Sorry brownie, that wasn't a shot at you (the nose part at least)...................

[rbrownie]

Originally Posted by Thumper

I love watching the struggling lower middle class (4th/5th man) arguing for better treatment of the richest 1% (10th man) in posts such as this.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Sorry brownie, that wasn't a shot at you (the nose part at least)...................

hey, thats not funny...

(Ok, maybe a little funny)

You could let the poorest 20% of the country pay no taxes at all and the Government wouldnt even feel it.

However, take the top 1% of tax payers and let them pay nothing, the country would go broke.

[FRAM]

Originally Posted by Thumper

I love watching the struggling lower middle class (4th/5th man) arguing for better treatment of the richest 1% (10th man) in posts such as this.

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Sorry brownie, that wasn't a shot at you (the nose part at least)...................

The rich have figured it out. Control the media and program the masses. Pretty soon the poor will be championing their cause too. If only there was a way to expose the poor to mass media...

[RyJ Maduro]

Whatever happened to the ambition to become successful and rich? When did that attitude get replaced with apathy and neosocialism?

I don't claim to be an economist, but everyone knows that with lower tax rates, the government still pulls in more income anyways.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by RyJ Maduro

Whatever happened to the ambition to become successful and rich?

I don't know.

You tell us.....................

[Sprawl]

the idea is. cutting taxes from the rich, will encourage them to push further economic growth which will hopefulyl raise overal income levels and increase spending.

[CKeelty]

Originally Posted by Sprawl

the idea is. cutting taxes from the rich, will encourage them to push further economic growth which will hopefulyl raise overal income levels and increase spending.

RIIIIIIIIIIGHT

Which is why they're so worried about their inheritance tax. Because they intend to put all that money back into consumer spending...

talk about

[leaferguy]

I have gotten and stayed rich by spending all my monies on consumer whoring.

[rbrownie]

Originally Posted by CKeelty

RIIIIIIIIIIGHT

Which is why they're so worried about their inheritance tax. Because they intend to put all that money back into consumer spending...

talk about

Why is it that every time there is a tax break for the rich, more taxes end up coming into the government.

Its because Rich people spend more when they pay less taxes.. Rich people buying things helps out the entire economy.

(There are facts to prove this but I is lazy today)

Some really telling charts from 2003 info...

[hammbone]

How come everyone in this story only cares about their absolute savings instead of the relative?

Is it because they are drunk?

[RyJ Maduro]

Originally Posted by CKeelty

RIIIIIIIIIIGHT

Which is why they're so worried about their inheritance tax. Because they intend to put all that money back into consumer spending...

talk about

The Death Tax is morally wrong. So let's say I end up dying with $5 mil in the bank, which I've ALREADY PAID TAXES FOR...my kids are supposed to pay tax on that money? It's taxing the same money multiple times over.

[husker30]

Originally Posted by Sprawl

the idea is. cutting taxes from the rich, will encourage them to push further economic growth which will hopefulyl raise overal income levels and increase spending.

As nice as that sounds, there is no way, considering the current corporate attitudes, that that statement is true. Corporate companies will take the money and hold onto it. Rich people mostly save their money. If you want to stimulate the economy, give the money to people that spend a majority of their incomes.

Large tax cuts lead to a greater burden on the middle and lower classes. According the New York Times, "people making $60,000 paid a larger share of their 2001 income in federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes than a family making $25 million". In a progressive tax system, how is this fair?

Look at tax cuts this way, in 2005, the top 1 percent of the population (who make an average of $1 million a year) received almost $60,000 each from the tax cuts. On the other hand, the bottom 40 percent received between $100 and $400. To help pay for the tax cuts, services that help the poor have to be cut. This again leads to the poor paying more after the tax cuts.

At the same time Bush cut $2 trillion worth of taxes in 2003, America went from a projected $5.6 trillion surplus to a projected $4 trillion deficit in just 4 years.

Bush's tax cuts have never been about helping the poor. He is just looking to help pad the pockets of his Bushy friends.

PS Estate Tax- Only 2 percent of the population ever has to pay an estate tax. The New York Times recently said they could not find one farmer in the US that lost his farm due to estate taxes.

[husker30]

Originally Posted by rbrownie

Why is it that every time there is a tax break for the rich, more taxes end up coming into the government.

Its because Rich people spend more when they pay less taxes.. Rich people buying things helps out the entire economy.

(There are facts to prove this but I is lazy today)

Some really telling charts from 2003 info...

Could that also be because the IRS cracked down on corporate taxes? In 2004, 94 percent of major corporations pay less than 5 percent of their incomes in taxes. How can that be when the corporate tax rate is 35%? Instead of cutting taxes, the IRS should focus on getting the money the government is owed.